Poukahangatus Quiz: 20 Questions on Tayi Tibble's Poetry Collection

Plot and Sequence Questions (1–8)

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1. In “Poūkahangatus,” what does the narrator decide to do about her sister’s hair?

• A) Cut it while her sister sleeps

• B) Straighten it with their nana’s iron

• C) Dye it a different colour

• D) Braid it into a traditional style

2. In “Tangi in the King Country,” what does the Aunty tell the children about the grass?

• A) It is sacred because it is still watered by old blood

• B) It is dangerous because of wild animals

• C) It belongs to the government

• D) It has been poisoned by settlers

3. In “Hoki Mai,” what vow does the woman make as the train departs?

• A) To check the mail first each day

• B) To never swim in the Awatere River again

• C) To write to her partner every week

• D) To return to the riverbank each summer

4. In “Takeaways,” what do the sisters do when the party breaks up?

• A) Hide in a closet and play who-can-stay-quiet-longest

• B) Run to a neighbour’s house

• C) Call their mother for a ride

• D) Clean up the party mess

5. In “Pania,” what happens to the goldfish the speaker won in a river-dancing contest?

• A) It slides down a stormwater drain after she slips on the kerb

• B) It dies and is flushed down the toilet

• C) It is given to her sister

• D) It grows into a large fish in a pond

6. In “Sensitivity,” which three temporal markers are presented in sequence?

• A) Cook’s landing, Whale Rider’s release, Castle-Hughes’s death on Game of Thrones

• B) The Treaty of Waitangi, the Māori Land March, the Springbok Tour

• C) The arrival of the first waka, the signing of the Treaty, the first Māori MP

• D) The New Zealand Wars, the influenza epidemic, the first Māori university graduate

7. In “The Warehouse,” what item do the speaker and companion remember to place in their basket before departing?

• A) A brillo pad

• B) A candle

• C) A pair of stockings

• D) A magazine

8. In “Agenda,” what happens to the food that was prepared?

• A) The dog is instructed to receive it instead

• B) It is given to the neighbours

• C) It is thrown in the bin

• D) It is saved for the next day

Character Motivation Questions (9–13)

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9. In “Poūkahangatus,” why does the narrator decide to develop a crush on Hone Harawira?

• A) For her sanity and protection

• B) Because he is a famous rugby player

• C) Because her nana knew him

• D) Because he lives in her neighbourhood

10. In “Hoki Mai,” why does the woman imagine making a dress from white fabric stored in her sister’s shed?

• A) She is envisioning a future with her partner on ancestral land

• B) She needs a dress for the kapa haka performance

• C) She plans to sell it at the market

• D) She wants to give it to her sister as a gift

11. In “Pania,” why does the woman tell clients she wants to study marine biology?

• A) She is desperate to return to the ocean

• B) She wants to impress them with her intelligence

• C) She has always loved fish

• D) She wants to work on a boat

12. In “Assimilation,” why does the wife interpret the husband leaving clothes pegs scattered as culturally insensitive?

• A) She sees it as a microaggression tied to colonial history

• B) She thinks he is being lazy

• C) She believes he is trying to annoy her

• D) She thinks he doesn’t love her anymore

13. In “A Sugar Daddy Is Essentially an Arts Patron,” why does R block the man after he purchases the cowboy boots?

• A) R knows where to draw the line in such arrangements

• B) R found a better patron

• C) The man refused to buy lingerie

• D) R was angry about the budget

Theme and Symbol Questions (14–17)

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14. In “Mint-Green Cross,” what does the mint-green cross represent to the narrator?

• A) A potential omen she could take

• B) A religious relic from her childhood

• C) A gift for her grandmother

• D) A decoration for her apartment

15. In “LBD,” what does the little black dress symbolize?

• A) The speaker’s inner darkness and inherited grief

• B) A fashionable outfit for the club

• C) Her mother’s favourite clothing

• D) A costume for a party

16. In “Receipt,” what does the custom-made bathtub symbolize?

• A) Permanence, entrapment, and the giver’s expectation

• B) Luxury and comfort

• C) A practical household item

• D) A symbol of cleanliness

17. In “Hawaiki,” what does the speaker conclude Hawaiki must be?

• A) A womb to which everything is born and returns

• B) A distant island in the Pacific

• C) A place of eternal punishment

• D) A mountain in New Zealand

Synthesis Questions (18–20)

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18. How does the collection use hair as a recurring symbol across multiple poems?

Short answer — draw on at least two poems.

19. Compare how “Sensitivity” and “Assimilation” address colonial history.

Short answer — identify one similarity and one difference.

20. How does the collection explore the theme of escape across different poems?

Short answer — draw on at least two poems.

Answer Key

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1. A — In “Poūkahangatus,” the narrator decides to cut her sister’s hair while she sleeps, reasoning that as the eldest she inherits the most mana and will do them both a favour.

2. A — The Aunty tells the children the grass is sacred because it is still watered by old blood, and they are desperate to know whose blood but do not ask.

3. A — As the train departs, the woman vows to check the mail first each day, the only vow she takes.

4. A — When the party breaks up, the two sisters hide in a closet and play a game of who can stay quiet the longest until they must get into the car.

5. A — In the rain she slips on the kerb, and the fish slides down a stormwater drain. The man calls the story unbelievable, and she agrees.

6. A — The chapter marks 248 years since Cook’s landing, fourteen years since Whale Rider’s release, and the specific moment of Castle-Hughes’s death on Game of Thrones.

7. A — Before departing, they remember to place a brillo pad in their basket.

8. A — After giving thanks to Jehovah for the meal, the dog is instructed to receive the food instead.

9. A — The narrator decides to develop a crush on Hone Harawira “for her sanity and protection,” rebranding as a Black Panther with turtlenecks and aviators.

10. A — She is envisioning a future with her partner: making a dress from white fabric, moving to ancestral land, and raising children.

11. A — She tells clients she is desperate to return to the ocean and wants to study marine biology once she has saved enough money.

12. A — The wife interprets the scattered clothes pegs as culturally insensitive behaviour, reflecting on historical colonial forces and the burden on Māori women.

13. A — R blocks the man after the boots are purchased, concluding with a remark about knowing where to draw the line in such arrangements.

14. A — The narrator finds the mint-green cross among Girl Guide badges and could take it as an omen, though R says he will turn it into an earring.

15. A — The little black dress symbolizes the speaker’s inner darkness, which she wears like a garment, carrying ancestral grief and inherited violence.

16. A — The bathtub is bolted to the floor, cannot be moved or re-gifted, and sits expectantly like the giver, waiting for her to use it—symbolizing permanence and entrapment.

17. A — The speaker concludes that Hawaiki must be a womb to which everything is born and returns, with life and death described as the colour red.

18. The collection uses hair as a marker of identity and resistance. In “Poūkahangatus,” the narrator’s great-grandmother cuts off her own plait, the narrator secretly straightens her hair with her nana’s iron, and she decides to cut her sister’s hair to relieve her anxiety. Hair is tied to colonial beauty standards, intergenerational trauma, and body autonomy. In “Ode to Johnsonville’s Cindy Crawford,” the mother’s mole becomes an inherited symbol of beauty, and the speaker draws it on her face when doing makeup.

19. Both poems address the legacy of colonization but through different lenses. “Sensitivity” juxtaposes Cook’s landing with the death of Keisha Castle-Hughes’s character on Game of Thrones, highlighting violence against Indigenous women and erasure in media. “Assimilation” focuses on a contemporary Māori couple who see themselves as progressive, yet the wife interprets her husband’s scattered clothes pegs as culturally insensitive, reflecting on historical colonial forces—potatoes and muskets, disease-ridden blankets, surveyors and preachers—and the burden carried by Māori women.

20. Escape appears across the collection in various forms: party culture and emotional armor in “I Wear Aviators to the Club”; fantasy and nostalgia in “Scabbing”; death and drowning imagery in “LBD” and “Nobody in the Water”; escape from domesticity in “In the 1960s an Influx of Māori Women”; and the desire to leave small-town life in “Long White Clouds.” The collection presents escape as both necessary and elusive, often tied to colonial history and personal trauma.